Page 7 of Between Salt and Serenades
I smacked my lips together, the saltiness that remained on my tongue creating an urge only water could quench—the type of water I was not used to.
My eyes darted around the room for sustenance, though I hadn’t recalled seeing any as I’d sought out clothing. If nothing was in here, we would need to get it from somewhere else. That meant getting closer to the humans or going to land with them. I wasn’t sure which of the two options was more idiotic.
“They will get their fish and go back to their land, and that’s what we will do too. Go to land,” Breena said, trying to pull my attention back to her.
My head nodded slowly, thankful she reached the same conclusion. After the wrist grab, I wouldn’t try to force her to do anything, not until I better understood what she could do.
“Alright. Well, we better start causing some chaos then.” I wiped my cold, clammy hands down the borrowed slacks I wore.
“Chaos?” she asked, touching the hollow of her neck.
“Yeah, trouble. If we cause trouble, they won’t be able to catch their three more hauls of fish, now, will they?” A tiny spark of excitement ignited in me, but I snuffed the spark out before it went up in flames. The last thing I needed was to let my emotions get the best of me. Feeling anything other than focus was a dangerous game. “They will eventually give up and go back to land, and we will go with them.”
“Alright then,” she agreed, a small curl escaping her cap with a bob of her head. “You’ll use your siren call and kill them all?” she said in a tone that sounded more like a question.
“What? No, I’m not going to kill them all. I said ‘cause trouble’, not murder.”
“But you’re a killer.” She spoke cut and dry, as if she knew me. Why this selkie was baffled I wouldn’t immediately turn to murder was beyond me.
“I’m a hunter, just like you. There’s a difference.” My words were sharp as glass. I knew I had called myself a killer not too long ago, but the sentiment was different when it was coming from someone else’s mouth. It was more official, solidified. “And how do you expect to get back to land to find food and water if we kill them all?”
“Good point, fish.”
“Fish? Yeah, don’t call me that.” My face scrunched in response. I’d start calling her ‘mammal’ if she wanted to play that game. Her head tilted once more, and I allowed the irritation to roll off me like a bead of water on a boat.
I gathered myself, looking over at her and asking, “What can you do?”
Maybe the question was for my own selfish reasons, but I wouldn’t let her know that.
“Do?” she asked.
“Yes. What are your… abilities?”
“I can swim and…” She trailed off, and then she turned to one of the barrels of rum. She looked it over once then wrapped her arms around it, lifting it off the wooden planks beneath her.
“And you’re strong. Got it. Not sure how helpful that’s going to be right now, but I’m sure we’ll come up with something. I’ll go out there and cause a distraction.”
Turning on my heel, I stumbled on a wayward plank and caught myself on the edge of the chest. I pointed and flexed my foot, still getting used to the separation of my tail. I couldn’t remember the last time I had stared at my toes, what it felt like to have air on my entire skin, not just my back and tail when I went too close to the surface. Even then, I had a long, thin fin that ran down the length of my spine, but my back was now smooth, human.
I righted myself, slipped the shoes back on, then stepped over the man sprawled out on the floor. I peeked my head through the crack, watching the men as they bickered about needing new nets. When I was done with them, it wouldn’t be an argument. If I had my way, all their precious nets would be destroyed and lost to the sea forever.
These sailors would’ve heard of the curses of the sea, and it was my job to ensure they knew just how real they were. Or make them think so, at least.
I could play all-powerful for the day, mimicking the Goddess of the Sea taking revenge on the humans for mistreating my creation. They prayed to the goddess for safe voyage and bountiful catches, but little did they know, the women of the sea,my people, were the ones they were praying to, and we hadn’t answered their murmurs in decades. Today, they would get a taste of what they were missing. They would get a taste of the goddess and her wrath.
As they re-secured their net, I flicked my wrist, sending waves crashing over the side of the boat. The water slammed into the wood, spilling a frothy cap over the edge. They shouted as their shoes filled with water.
“The sea is mad today!” one of the men yelled out. Their grip on the net began to loosen as I continued to crash waves down upon them. Before the men could regain their composure, my mouth cracked open, and the sounds of seals in distress poured out of me. My mimicry magic caused a few men to run over to the other side of the boat to see what was going on. Little did they know, there was nothing but fierce waves on the port side to greet them.
Breena came up beside me, her head cocked. She strode forward, but I held my arm out to stop her.
“It’s just me,” I spoke, almost in a warning not to go any farther. My mouth opened again, and the soft whine of a seal slithered from my mouth to her ears, soft enough for only her to hear. Her face contorted, and her arm shot forward faster than I could move. She grabbed my cheeks, ending the cry of her kind.
“You tricked them?” she asked, her touch softening as she turned my face to the side.
I didn’t pull away from her as I stared into her darkened eyes. “Yes. I can mimic the voices and sounds of other people and animals.”
“Please stop. I don’t need to hear it, real or not. Whales, birds—fine—but not my kind.” Breena’s voice trailed off, her attention leaving me, lost to some distant memory, or maybe it was her new reality that haunted her.
